A fantastic leg spinner who could turn the ball a mile, Tommy Mitchell never quite shone for England in a very brief Test career. However, in First-class cricket, he was a major weapon for Derbyshire and ended up with more than 1400 wickets to his kitty. A smooth action, powerful wrists and an action with a lot of body on it, allowed Mitchell to get appreciable drift and also got the ball to rip off the pitch. Interestingly, he learned the trade of leg spin from a snooker table and went on to become among the finest spinners in England during his times. Mitchell also had a lively persona which made him highly popular among his peers. Having come from the mining community, he was a man of great self-esteem and pride. It was said that Mitchell didn’t realize how good he really was and could actually ended up as a greater cricketer than he eventually did.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan